How an injury in 2005 sparked Villanova's dynasty

It took Jay Wright four years to take Villanova to a NCAA tournament. It happened in 2005, and the Wildcats have missed only one tournament since. Over that time, Wright has led the program to six Sweet 16s, three Final Fours and, after a 79-62 win over Michigan on Monday night, two national titles.

That 2005 tournament appearance was a spark for this prolific run Villanova has been on for over a decade now. In more ways than one. During a Round of 32 game against Florida, the Wildcats lost star forward Curtis Sumpter to a torn ACL. ‘Nova survived the game, but a North Carolina team that was favored to win it all awaited in the Sweet 16.

How was Wright going to replace his best big man against a Tar Heels team with size and strength down low? By going even smaller, of course. Villanova and its four-guard offense –Mike Nardi, Randy Foye, Kyle Lowry and Mike Nardi, Allan Ray, Kyle Lowry and Randy Foye (the “power forward” at 6-feet-4) played around forward Jason Frasier — nearly pulled off an upset of North Carolina.

Villanova’s season was over, but Wright had stumbled onto a strategy he’d use to great effect for years to come. The Wildcats have been a small ball team ever since.

“We were even going into the game, ‘well, let’s see how this works. But in that game we could see how they were huge. And we saw how it spread them out, how they had to chase us, how it opened up lanes to the basket…

“Ever since we did that,” Wright said, “we just always stuck with it.”

The next season, Villanova rode the four-guard offense to a 28-5 record, a conference title and a No. 1 seed in the tournament. It lost in the Elite Eight. Three years later, a different small ball lineup, this one led by Scottie Reynolds, made it to the program’s first Final Four appearance since the 1985 championship team.

Now, Wright has two national titles in three years. And with only two seniors on the current roster, Villanova won’t be slowing down anytime soon.

Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY

Villanova’s strategy hasn’t changed much since that North Carolina game in 2005. Wright’s small lineups are still giving opponents trouble by spreading out the defense and gashing it with drive-and-kick 3s. But in the mean time, the 56-year-old coach has focus his recruiting efforts on bringing in players who fit the system.

This 2018 team, the best in the history of the program, is the product of that accidental evolution. In the national title game, every Villanova player who was on the court for at least 10 minutes launched at least two 3-pointers. Six players — Jalen Brunson, Phil Booth, Donte DiVincenzo, Mikal Bridges, Eric Paschall and Omari Spellman — attempted at least 100 long-distance shots over the course of the season. Only four teams attempted more 3s than Villanova did this season.

Teams across the country have adopted a similar strategy but still lag behind Villanova, which has been doing this small ball thing for a long time now.

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